


Cassettes

by trash_mammall



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Ambiguity, Dialogue Heavy, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Warm, relationships/characters liable to change if more chapters are made, this is rly a Spur Of The Moment thing fr me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 18:43:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20971262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trash_mammall/pseuds/trash_mammall
Summary: The shelves are littered with old trinkets and knick-knacks long forgotten. Dusty magazines and newspapers are a foundation for jars of thread, well-loved postcards, old CDs. Your eyes scan each new row of unfound treasure, each one with a different story you may never have the privilege of knowing.Flicking through the box of cassettes, reading labels as your curiosity begs for something to dig its teeth into, you come across a cassette with scrawled lettering.The title: Did We Make It?





	Cassettes

The shelves are littered with old trinkets and knick-knacks long forgotten. Dusty magazines and newspapers are a foundation for jars of thread, well-loved postcards, old CDs. Your eyes scan each new row of unfound treasure, each one with a different story you may never have the privilege of knowing.

Among the assorted appliances and books is an old cassette player, and several cassettes in a lidless wooden box.

You can't help but be surprised that the player works as you plug it in and turn it on, a soft buzzing from deep within reaching your ribcage.

Flicking through the box of cassettes, reading labels as your curiosity begs for something to dig its teeth into, you come across a cassette with scrawled lettering.

The title: **Did We Make It?**

* * *

_A whirring. White noise. A snort of laughter, the type that becomes beautiful the more you listen to it._

"Dude, why are you recording this?" _Gravelly, almost monotone._

"Scientific purposes, of course." _Definite, solid._

"Hm, right. Right."

_A rustling. Silence. Somewhere an owl calls out._

"Do you ever think about how infinitely large our universe is?"

"I mean, not really. I guess maybe a little but you know me. More stuck in our world 'n' all."

"Sometimes I think about how incomparable its size is. How it keeps expanding. And one day, who knows."

_A beat._

"I wonder where it's expanding. Like if there's an end of the universe, and the universe is expanding, what's beyond that point?"

"I- I suppose I'm not sure. Parallel universes, perhaps? New realities we could never fathom? Anything, I suppose. Anything could be beyond that."

"Do you wanna explore the edge of the universe with me?"

_ A different snort of laughter, more of a cough. The throat is unused to functioning in this way, the sound is clawing its way up the trachea. It is genuine. _

"Yes, I would love that."

"We can listen to podcasts on the way. Imagine all the new ones we could get through."

"Hmm, yes. And assuming our technology is advanced enough to take us all the way to the edge of the universe, we will likely also have autopilot. So research and reading, too. It sounds," _a sigh,_ "lovely."

_A pause of silence. Trees rustle in the background and that owl cries out again. It sounds lonely, but neither of the voices comment on it._

"Hey, L?"

"Yes?"

"Are you... okay?"

_A breath. Then,_ "I think, at this moment, I am okay."

"Yeah?" _Doubtful, knowing._

"Yes. The wind is calming, the atmosphere is cool, the stars are out. We are present and the universe expands. I am okay." _Confident, knowing._

_A hum of understanding, perhaps the nod of a head. Silence._

"May I ask if _you_ are okay?"

"Tell me something else about the universe, L."

"Oh- well, our galaxy, the Milky Way, is slowly pulling another galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, into it. So, eventually, the Milky Way will have absorbed it, and our sky will be completely different." _Startled, knowing._

"Oh, damn." _A chuckle, quieter, trained by years of covered mouths and biting tongues._

"Of course, that is so far into the future that we will never be able to witness it, but-" _a pause- _"but I suppose, if we are travelling to the edge of the universe together then we will be able to see countless new galaxies, so it isn't such a loss."

_An amused huff. A cough, something choked down and swallowed deep within the chest. More humorous breaths, but something is detached._

"Virgil?" _Concern._

"Hm? Yeah?" _Clogged._

"I'm unsure of how to read you at the moment."

_Muffled laughter, forced. Breaking, almost shattered glass. Ripping apart the throat as it is swallowed deeper._

"I'll get us to the universe's edge, Virgil."

"L, it's okay. It's-"

"No, Virgil. I will. I promise."

"You don't-" _frustration, resignation-_ "I know you don't like making promises you can't keep so just. Stop. It's okay."

"Virgil, look at me."

_A moment of silence, of wind and grass and crickets. The owl hoots, and another owl responds. Cloth rustles._

"Hey, L?"

"Yes, Virgil?"

"I think... I think, in the grand scheme of things we don't really have importance, like if you really think about it, but..."

_A breath, barely there. A sniffle, perhaps. A wipe of the nose, or eye, or nothing at all._

"...but I think you're pretty important to me right now, right here. And I think that's enough."

_Airy laughter, melancholy but true._

"This is enough."

_Easy breathing, a light breeze, and with a click the tape ends._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoyed !! obvi this is kind of ambiguous n open ended, so i'd be curious as to how you interpret it !
> 
> Until next time !
> 
> tumblr: trash-mammall


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